The Justice Department’s senior ethics attorney, a position tasked with ensuring all employees abide by the department’s moral principles, announced Monday that Attorney General Pam Bondi had fired him.
Joseph Tirrell said he received notice from Bondi on Friday and shared a copy of her letter to him on LinkedIn. The notice did not provide any reasoning for his firing, which was effective immediately, but says he may appeal the decision.
Tirrell said in his LinkedIn post that he was “responsible for advising the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General directly on federal employee ethics” and led a team of 30 people dedicated to upholding ethics across the Justice Department.
His public service career spanned a quarter of a century, Tirrell wrote in his announcement, saying he began as a U.S. Naval officer before earning a law degree and working at the FBI before moving to the DOJ. He’s led the ethics office since 2023.
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